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Roman Reigns on Vince McMahon’s Retirement, Triple H Taking Over, a Possible Match With The Rock and More

Also in Traina Thoughts: Gronk likes Brady's underwear; exit-velocity nonsense; wild Lions prop bets; and more.

Jimmy Traina

Roman Reigns on Vince McMahon’s Retirement, Triple H Taking Over, a Possible Match With The Rock and More
Roman Reigns on Vince McMahon’s Retirement, Triple H Taking Over, a Possible Match With The Rock and More /

1. WWE universal champion Roman Reigns joined me on the latest edition of the SI Media Podcast and shared some insight into a slew of topics including Vince McMahon’s shocking retirement, Triple H (Paul Leveque) taking over as head of creative, Reigns’s new reduced schedule, a possible WrestleMania match with The Rock, what it’s like to work with Paul Heyman, the rush of a promo compared to the rush of a big bump, selling a ton of merchandise and much more.

Here is a sampling of highlights from the podcast:

  • His first thought when he heard Vince McMahon was retiring:

“It was just hard to believe. I think, along with anyone who’s followed this business or been in this business, I thought, when I’m gonna be long gone, I’ll be 20 years retired and Vince will still be running the show. I think [my reaction] was just kind of ‘Ah, we’ll see. We’ll see him in six months.’ That was the mindset that I initially took. Then I received the talent relations text message. And then obviously a personal message from him. We talked a little bit”.

  • On how the transition from Vince McMahon to Triple H (Paul Leveque) running creative could impact Reigns:

“We’re not erasing what I’ve done. It’s very visible, even if Paul wasn’t completely locked into what we’ve been doing over the past six months and past year with the health issues he’s overcome and the journey that he’s been on. We never forget what we’ve done and the body of work that we have and why we’re to the point that we are.

“But I think like anyone who is trying to get better or progress, they’re gonna keep that mindset that I’m constantly trying to better myself. This week is an audition for next week. That’s how I look at it. It’s funny, I just did a house show in Ottawa and one of the producers after we’re done, they come up to me, ‘Man, you bump like you’re auditioning for a job.’ I don’t do anything crazy. We didn’t do any crazy bumps. It was just my regular flat backs. I attacked the mat as if it was my first day of training. As an athlete, that’s how we’ve always been trained, 100% every time. That was instilled as a child. So for me, I don’t care who’s running the show. In my mind, I’m running the show as long as I continue to push myself and bring my very best performance every single week. It doesn’t matter if it’s Vince, Triple H, Nick [Khan], Stephanie, Amazon, Disney, Paul Heyman, Jimmy, you can run the show and you know who the Man is.”

  • On how he feels Triple H has done in his first month running creative for WWE:

“I think he’s done excellent. He’s like a professional wrestling babyface right now. He’s a babyface for the industry right now. There’s a honeymoon situation. There’s a lot of excitement. If you look at the grand scheme of it and just break it down what he’s stepped into just dealing with this controversy alone. Dealing with the craziness of: the impossible happened. Vince McMahon stepped down. Just wrapping your brain around that and then being the guy to be next. I thought following Cena was tough enough. Imagine following Vince McMahon. I think he’s done great. I really do.”

I also asked Reigns for an update on the possibility of a match against The Rock at Wrestlemania in 2023, which will take place in Los Angeles. The Rock’s NBC sitcom, Young Rock, teased a match between the two during an episode last season.

“Update is Dwyane’s dropping it within his own project so it’s gotta be pretty good, it’s gotta be pretty special,” said Reigns. “I think that just goes to show the clamoring, the buzz for it, the chatter for it, the wishful thinking. So it’s something he definitely played into within Young Rock. As you know with him everything is highly strategic, lotta synergy with everything he does, with the projects that he’s guiding and has in mind.

“I would say just based off of that alone it looks better than the last time we spoke.”

You can listen to the podcast below or download it on Apple, Spotify and Google.

You can also watch the SI Media Podcast on YouTube.

2. On Tuesday, we praised Mets TV analyst Keith Hernandez for taking a stand against the uselessness of exit velocity.

Right on cue, Pirates rookie Oneil Cruz hit the hardest hit ever recorded during Pittsburgh's game against Atlanta on Wednesday.

But it was a single and Cruz is batting .199, so, like Hernandez, I'll never understand the fanfare around exit velocity.

3. Tom Brady is a seven-time Super Bowl champion, a future Hall of Famer and the best quarterback in NFL history. He's also selling underwear these days. 

Actually, Brady has a whole line of clothing, but the BRADY™Brand underwear has just been restocked after after more than 20,000 pairs sold out in record time. 

Clearly, Rob Gronkowski is enjoying his free samples.

Thanks to the restock, which includes a new Pantone Brady Blue color, BRADY™Brand is offering a pack of the underwear to three lucky Traina Thoughts readers. Check my Twitter feed (@jimmytraina) at 3 p.m. ET to find out how to win.

4. The first 30 seconds of this clip from Wednesday's First Take is spectacular. From Chris “Mad Dog” Russo asking Stephen A. Smith what sports Dana White is from to Russo telling Smith to stop five times while Smith waxed poetic about the UFC to Dog's constant facial expressions, it was all highly entertaining.

5. This was a good rant by Yahoo’s Charles Robinson, and I agree with every word.

6. These are real wagers offered on Bovada for the NFL season:

Will any Detroit Lions player bite an opponent during the 2022–2023 regular season?
Yes: +3000
No: -10000

Will any Detroit Lions player bite an opponent during the 2022–2023 regular season?
Yes: +3000
No: -10000

7. RANDOM VIDEO OF THE DAY: If are an NFL fan who grew up in the ’80s, you know how important HBO's Inside the NFL was at the time. This was the place to get highlights for every team every week. And hosts Len Dawson and Nick Buoniconti were the perfect hosts. RIP, Len Dawson.

Be sure to catch up on past editions of Traina Thoughts and check out the Sports Illustrated Media Podcast hosted by Jimmy Traina on Apple, Spotify or Google. You can also follow Jimmy on Twitter, Instagram and TikTok.

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Jimmy Traina
JIMMY TRAINA

Jimmy Traina is a staff writer and podcast host for Sports Illustrated. A 20-year veteran in the industry, he’s been covering the sports media landscape for seven years and writes a daily column, Traina Thoughts. Traina has hosted the Sports Illustrated Media Podcast since 2018, a show known for interviews with some of the most important and powerful people in sports media. He also was the creator and writer of SI’s Hot Clicks feature from 2007 to '13.

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